scanned by gojukai
By the same author
Pelmen the Powershaper:
1. The Prophet of Lamath
2. The Wizard in Waiting
Pelmen the Powershaper
The Power and
the Prophet
ROBERT DON HUGHES
FONTANA/Collins
Contents
Prologue
1 Pilgrims Through the Pass
2 Murmurings in the Mar
3 The Dogs and the Dragon
4 The Dread
5 Wings of Fire
6 Climbing
7 Silent Entry
8 Fire Fall
9 Purple Cloud on the Golden Throne
10 Sythia Isle
11 A Brilliant, Burning Blue
12 Frolic in the Snow
13 The Battle of Dragonsgate
14 Blind Mission .
15 Dragon Dung
16 Alliances
17 The Baying Hounds
18 Into the Tower
19 A Feast Fit for a Tugolith
20 The Opening Gate
21 Crowns
22 Glossary
PROLOGUE
The Power's Gateway
They were mined from the finest veins in the Mar—six huge diamonds, each the size of a giant's skull. A company of warriors, sworn to secrecy, bore them by horseback around the treacherous southwestern route. They wouldn't dare enter Dragonsgate with diamonds of this size, for Vicia-Heinox would claim them for himself. These stones were destined to be the dragon's bane, and that would end the conspiracy at its beginning.
The Man warriors bore them to the scholars of the south, surrendering their treasures in the heartland of their hated foes. All men were allies now, for there was dragonburn on the land. In the hallways of the craftsmen, under the learned eyes of the wise, each diamond felt the chisel. Six three-sided pyramids were carefully cut—six slivers of crystal, each tapering gracefully to a point, each calibrated to fit precisely with every other. Then the wise men summoned the powershaper to meld by his magic the six sharp shards into a single diamond thorn.
There was a human failing. The cost proved too high. Unwilling to pay that price, the sorcerer improvised. He attacked the dragon alone, wielding the sparkling weapon in his bare hands. The battle—visible from distant mountaintops—left the shaper destroyed and the crystal object shattered once again into six three-sided pyramids. They all were lost for a millennium.
Now, a thousand years later, three had been rediscovered.
CHAPTER ONE
Pilgrims Through the Pass
An autumn wind stirred the grasslands of the Westmouth Plain, billowing Pelmen's robe out before him. He walked briskly toward the east, his head up, his eyes fixed on the jagged peaks of Dragonsgate. He could have flown. He was, after all, a powershaper; in his altershape, he took on the form of a falcon. Yet Pelmen was tired of flying. He'd done little else for days. And he was certain the one he sought would be on foot—if she was free to travel at all. Once again, Pelmen searched for Serphimera.
Something caught his eye. On the road above him, up in the foothills of the ancient pass, he saw a flash of powder blue. He knew instantly what it was, and it amazed him. "A sky-faither? Here?" he murmured and he speeded his already quick pace. His gown was of the same brilliant color, but he'd never before seen another like it here in this ancient land of warfare and wizardry. It wasn't his wandering lady—she still wore the midnight blue of the old Dragonfaith. But it was someone who shared his belief, and, by the Power, Pelmen wanted to know who.
By the Power! So much of what Pelmen had done in the past few years had been by the Power. Time and again he'd been summoned to lay down his personal concerns and take up cosmic responsibilities. Was Serphimera's disappearance a prelude to yet another such adventure? He could hardly tolerate the thought. Yet if Serphimera's prophecies were true—and she'd never been proved wrong yet—a new burden was even now being placed on Pelmen's shoulders. Because of who and what he was, Pelmen Dragonsbane could do nothing other than bear it.
He could see the figure above him clearly now, and his curiosity grew. The man clothed in skyfaither blue slowly an-gled off the road toward the north. Pelmen glanced that way and frowned. There was a path there, but it led only to a blind canyon. Was this skyfaither camped there? When Pelmen's gaze flicked back to the blue-clad figure his frown deepened with concern; the man tripped and fell.
He didn't throw out his arms to cushion his fall. Instead, he clutched them to his chest, as if he shielded something within his robes that was above value and that must be protected at all personal cost. Pelmen would have raced up to help him then, but there was a shout from the canyon above. Almost without thought Pelmen drew a shield of invisibility around himself, a spell shapers referred to as "the cloak." He disap-peared.
...
allforjesus2001